Rain Flavored Kisses
by Cleo Burton
Summary: Done for a Deviant Art contest. Robin, Starfire's husband of a year, has been kicked out, only to find comfort in the warm yet slightly wet arms of an unexpected old friend.


Rain-Flavored Kisses

"That's it!" she shouted. "Get your stuff and get out!"

This was not our first fight. Heck, this wasn't even the first time she kicked me out. But I knew this time she was serious. She pulled her long red hair out of its ponytail and wrenched her engagement ring off of her slender finger, throwing it at me. I stared at it glittering on the floor before I trudged to the room. I tossed my very few belongings into three duffel bags and pulled my emergency cash out of my sock drawer. Without my noticing, something fell out another drawer when I pulled out my favorite sweatshirt. It clattered to the hardwood floor with an audible crack. The sound of glass crunching was audible as I bent to pick up the now ruined picture frame. I guess it was all well and good. Starfire had given me that frame, but she never knew my most prized picture was one that was folded in half.

Only experience told me the entire picture was of my old crime-fighting team, taken when we were all 16-year-olds, or close to that. The visible half had contained me and an old teammate, the other half Starfire and the other two. I felt tears touch my pale-blue eyes as I watched her short violet hair fall over similarly hued eyes. I had harbored a crush over Raven for a long time. Even when Starfire and I got together, when we kissed in Tokyo, and even when Raven was Star's Maid of Honor at our wedding last year… Even then, I still loved her. I had spent the better part of the reception either dancing with Star or mingling with Raven.

Though Star had retired, I still remained in the hero business under the assumed name of Nightwing. I had grown my hair out long, just past my waist, and changed my old red and green costume for a far more appropriate black and pale-blue one. Despite my mingling in the hero business, I had few tabs on the old team. I know Beast Boy had moved to the East Coast and become an Animal Rescue Team member, and he was quite famous in animal-rights circles. Cyborg had remained in the small circle of heroes still left in Jump City. I had written the deed of the Tower over to Cyborg, and he continued the Teen Titans legacy under the guise of simply the 'Titans.' I had no idea what happened to Raven, but I think she remained in Gotham.

I gazed at the creased photograph, folding it the other way and then ripping down the weakened crease. I tossed the one half on the pillows and stuffed the other half into the back pocket of my jeans. I put on my coat, picked up my bags and my cell phone, and walked down the hallway to the entrance to the garage. Starfire was flipping through the channels silently.

"I'll be by tomorrow to pick up the rest of my stuff."

I got no response, so I wandered to the black car I had bought before Starfire and I even got married. I stared at my left hand as it rested on the black leather steering wheel. I had stopped wearing my wedding ring six months ago. There wasn't even a tan line. I remember, I had taken it off the first time Star kicked me out. I had very nearly given into the temptation of tossing the glittering gold band into the bay, but I stopped myself. I figured it would be a cold day in hell before Star and I got a real divorce.

Well, the devil should be ordering mittens and skis right now.

I'm not sure how long I drove with nothing but the radio and the humming of the engine to keep me company. Eventually, I stopped in front of a little hole-in-the-wall café. It looked dingy, dark, and just perfect given the circumstances.

It was dark inside. There was a guy on stage dressed all in black with blood-red hair, playing a guitar and crooning some song about loves lost. There were a few customers, mostly clad in black turtlenecks, spiked jewelry, or black berets. I sighed and seated myself in the darkest corner, just brooding. I watched as three waitresses, all dressed completely in black, bustled around the place. One of them had black spiky hair. Another was a blonde, and the one that was closest had purple hair that was streaked with thick black.

She turned; she was dressed in a black corset, a black Victorian-style miniskirt, black fishnets, and combat boots. Her hands and wrists were adorned with black fingerless gloves and barbed-wire bracelets. Her neck sported a silver ankh and a spiked collar. Her violet hair was drawn into the messiest twist I had ever seen.

But she was still the prettiest thing I had ever seen.

"Hi, Raven," I mumbled.

She stood strait up and her jaw fell open in shock; "Robin?"

"Yeah," I sighed, fussing with my left ring finger. It was a habit I had come to acquire.

"Wow," she sighed. "It's…um… Hey, it's been a while!"

I didn't answer. Why had I even said anything!?

"Uh-oh," she said, pulling up a chair.

"Hey, take a seat," I half-teased, half-snapped.

"Sorry, it's just you look like you could use someone to talk to. How are you and Star doing?"

I could hear her voice tighten in pain. My eyes crinkled a little at the edges; "We're over. She kicked me out."

"So you got rid of your wedding band somewhere between your house and here?" she asked skeptically. "Come on, we're still best friends, right? You can tell me."

I stared at her heart-shaped, pale face, but it betrayed no emotion. I sighed and began; "Well, my marriage was great… for about a week. I knew Star wanted me to retire, but I just couldn't give up being a hero. The civilian life just didn't work for me. So I started sneaking out at night. It was smooth sailing for a few weeks, but we got into a lot of arguments. We both had hair-string tempers to boot, and not to mention I got very little sleep and she was paranoid. She was suspicious and accused me of cheating. I swore I wasn't, but she didn't believe me. That was the first time she kicked me out. That was when I stopped wearing my wedding band and though I didn't want to admit it at the time, it was when my marriage was over for good. But I fought to hold on. I was allowed to return a few days later and we made it work for a little while. But then she brought up the subject of a baby. See, I've wanted a kid for a long time, but she didn't want one. So when we got into another big argument, she suggested I go have a baby with my lover. She was still convinced I was cheating on her. After that, it was finding out about my hero stints at night, forgetting the electric bill, my job… the list is endless. Tonight, I admitted something to her for the first time, and she kicked me out for real. I know it's for real, because she told me to pack my stuff. She's never told me to pack my stuff before, and I know now that I'll never go back."

Some time in my short story, Raven's hand had found its way under mine. She didn't move it, and frankly, I didn't want her to move it either. She looked down briefly before making eye contact once more; "What did you tell her?"

"That when I married her, I was in love with someone else. I supposed I was probably being a little malicious, but I couldn't stand hiding the truth anymore."

Raven's and my shared gaze was so intense; I could feel the heat rise in my face. Raven and I made eye contact for the briefest moment before she moved her hand and stood.

"I'm going to tell Sheila I'm leaving for the night. Where are you staying?"

"Nowhere, as of now," I answered.

"That won't do," Raven said with a small smile. "Come stay at my place for a while."

"I wouldn't want to intrude," I said, taken aback just a little. "I mean, you're roommate won't care?"

"Please," Raven flicked her wrist in an effeminate gesture. "I live alone, and that big apartment seems so cold and empty without someone with me."

I don't know how it happened. But suddenly, Raven was riding shotgun while I drove to her apartment downtown. Somewhere along the way, it started to downpour. At a huge building, Raven and I pulled my stuff from the back seat and ran as fast as we could to the door. But it took her some time to get her key, so we ended up soaking wet and laughing more than I had laughed in a long time.

After a lengthy elevator ride up to the penthouse, I could tell Raven wasn't kidding about the apartment being big. The whole place was done tastefully in shades of midnight blue, gray, white and black. We dumped our wet stuff in the entry way and she bent to peel her wet boots off of her legs.

"I'm going to change. You can shower if you like. I'll take your stuff to the guest bedroom. Bathroom's down the hall, first door on your right. Towels are in the closet on the left of the sink."

Raven pulled down her hair; my breath hitched as the rain-darkened curtain fell into a soft curl just beneath her shoulders. The thick black streaks begged to be touched. I grasped her bracelet-adorned wrist and pulled her in close, looking deep into her eyes.

"It was you."

"Pardon?" she asked, a blush warming her cheeks with delicious pink.

"It was you," I repeated. "I have harbored this crush on you since we first me, and I knew I would always love you, despite everything else that ever happened. That's why Star couldn't stand this. That's why I knew it would never work."

"Robin, I—,"

"Call me Richard," I whispered, pulling her into a deep kiss. I pushed my hands into her wet hair, securing her face to mine.

I didn't consider if she rejected me what it would feel like. So I just held tighter. She was unresponsive at first, but her cool lips soon parted beneath mine, her warm breath tingling on my cold mouth. Her soft and slender hands pushed into my hair as we stood in the huge entryway, soaking wet and wrapped in an intimate embrace that warmed me from within.

Then I knew. It was her all along that I had needed. And I knew that I would never ever have a kiss like this with another girl. I knew that now, every time it rained, I would think of this night. And tonight, when I was curled under a blanket, alone or with company, I would dream of Rain-Flavored Kisses, and think back to this moment with sheer bliss that I haven't felt in a long time.


End file.
